वांगी भात​ / Eggplant Rice | Karnataka Cuisine | One Pot Meal | Vegan | Gluten Free

Hello!!

It’s been raining here and I’m more than happy to see that. Monsoon..a beautiful season, in which the sun plays hide and seek behind the clouds. The kids play in puddles and the trees are green, shining with the pearl drops sitting on their leaves. The cool breeze, the thundering, the sunless days..everything is so beautiful!!! My kid loves to go out and stand in the rains with his umbrella and listen to the pitter patter of the falling rain drops…they seem to travel so much distance before they hit the ground, he loves looking at them!!

I love to cook when it’s raining. It’s beautiful to see the rains through my kitchen window, while I cook. Mostly I cook elaborate meals but sometimes I indulge in a one pot meal and then while it rains, cuddle inside the comforter and cherish memories of my childhood.. when after getting drenched in rainwater, me and my brother were pushed to have a bath and then we would cuddle inside the comforter and sleep. Childhood was so much fun!!!

On one such day I made this vaangi bhaath.. ‘Vaangi’ means eggplant and ‘Bhaath’ means rice. Recently during our veggie shopping, we had got hold of the beautiful light green, long eggplants and I picked them instantaneously as S loves them. This variety of eggplant  is perfect for this ‘bhaath’  preparation as there are less seeds and the eggplant has succulence plus great flavor. Also I had challenged S that I can cook better bhaath than one of his relatives, whose preparation I had hated as it was dry and bland. I normally do not criticize any one’s food, as what matters to me is the love with which it gets served, but this particular preparation I would never forget in my life time as I was drinking water after every bite, just to swallow it..Nevertheless, I cooked it and cooked it to perfection, to an extent that DH said it’s restaurant material!!!

Talking of restaurant’s I would like to inform my readers in India that now whenever you are bored of cooking  or have not carried lunch box to the office, you can order food online in three easy steps from Foodpanda. Their services are currently available in 12 cities, of which the major ones are Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Pune, Mumbai, Chandigarh and their satellite towns. Once you are logged into the site, select the city and area where the food needs to be delivered. One has a choice to select the restaurant cuisine wise also. There are offers and discount vouchers available too from certain restaurants. After selecting the restaurant, check the menu and order the food. The delivery time is about 50mins but varies from restaurant to restaurant and the best part, there are no delivery charges. I simply love the idea of ordering food through www.foodpanda.in , do check it out  and order for food this weekend.

Coming back to my recipe.. I served the bhaath with curds and khari boondi (spicy) and it was a great combination indeed. This bhaath can be a big savior in case you have many guests coming in. One can make the curry(palya) cooked in advance and then mix it with the rice just before serving. The only precautions you should take while making the  curry for this bhaath is, to put more oil, spice and salt, as it gets mixed with the rice. If one can balance the flavors there, the bhaath is a sure hit. That reminds me, my dad loves this bhaath too..

 

Preparation Time: 30mins | Cooking Time: 20mins | Serves: 4-5 | Difficulty Level : Easy

Ingredients

17-18 long, light green variety Aubergines, cut into thin slices

4-5tbsp homemade Palya Pudi (Karnataka style spice mix for making curries)

7-8tbsp oil

2tsp mustard seeds

salt to taste

1/2tsp turmeric powder

3/4 cup peas ( I used frozen)

6-7cups cooked rice

 

Method

Heat oil in a pan (karahi) and add mustard, let it splutter.

Simmer the flame and add turmeric powder followed by eggplant slices, add salt, mix thoroughly. Cook covered till half done. Salt enables the eggplant to release juices and cook faster.

Add the palya pudi and peas and mix. Cook till done.

To one portion of rice and 1/4 - 1/3 portion of the curry and mix thoroughly, serve.

Addition of clarified butter (ghee) adds nice taste and flavor to the rice but that is optional.